Article March 5, 2012 Issue

Bumper-sticker angel

Hugh Pendexter III

Recently an “angel” cut in front of me in traffic. My wife and I were heading for the supermarket for our weekly shopping when a van swung aggressively into our lane. I have been praying about my driving for some time, striving truly to love everyone with whom I share the streets, so I held back the unkind words that sprang to my lips and declared that God loved the driver of the van, and therefore, I loved him. As we waited for a traffic light, my eye caught a sign on his rear windshield: “Never settle for less.”

I couldn’t tell what the bumper sticker was advertising, but the words of the sign jolted me. Immediately I felt myself finishing the phrase as follows: “Never settle for less than God gives; that is, never settle for less than all good. Never settle for a belief of incomplete healing. Never settle for less than complete harmony. Never settle for less than complete joy.”

Suddenly our shopping trip became transformed as I pondered that angel message and applied it to all the petty problems of the day. Shopping was no longer a burden; driving was no longer a fret. I wholeheartedly thanked the intruding driver for compelling me to attend to his message, and for helping me to understand that spiritually speaking, I never needed to settle for less.

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